Centipede

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The latest classic arcade game remake hits the PlayStation. Find out how the translation fared.

By Craig Harris

Hasbro has a serious uphill climb to make. The company made a name for itself on the PlayStation more than a year and a half ago when it released Frogger, easily one of the worst remakes of a true classic arcade game. The game tried to do everything and failed ¿ but what's interesting is, despite the critical slam the company got for the game, Frogger is one of the highest-selling products on the PlayStation to date. Hey, we just give our opinions on the game ¿ if you want to go out and spend your hard-earned money on such a crappy game, more power to you.

With the reputation Frogger has given Hasbro, we're sure that the company tried hard to make its next classic remake, Centipede, something a little more thorough ¿ and more importantly, more fun. The game was supposed to be released back in November of 1998, but development issues pushed the release of Centipede back six months. Was the game worth the wait?

Gameplay When Centipede was designed by Ed Logg back in 1980, he had one goal: to up what Taito did with its quarter-muncher Space Invaders. And that's what Centipede was at its core, though the feel of the game was cleverly masked under a new scenario: shoot a multi segmented Centipede as it works its way through a maze of destructible mushrooms. Unlike Space Invaders, though, your craft could move in all directions on the playfield. The challenge ¿ as with most every arcade game of its time ¿ was to score as many points with one credit. There wasn't a storyline, no beginning, middle, or end ¿ just increasingly intense shooter action.

Times have changed, expectations have risen ¿ so when Hasbro set out to update the Atari classic, it had to give it a more structured design. You're now a guy named Wally, set out to save the Wee People from the invading hordes of insects. Well, that's the story, anyway.

The game definitely has that Centipede look, but it's now in 3D. The camera is defaulted at the familiar overhead perspective, but thanks to the polygonal engine, the camera can also be placed behind or inside your craft. It's pretty gimmicky to be "inside" the craft and not very productive, so keep the camera up high. The new engine also allows for new controls. Instead of merely shooting up at a fixed arena, your craft can now rotate 360 degrees to shoot bugs that are to the left, right, and behind you. But the game remains the same: shoot the onslaught of bugs before they get you. Or worse, get the Wee Folks.

Each of the levels are segmented into different locations. After you shoot a certain quota of bugs and centipedes, a drawbridge that once made an area inaccessible lowers, letting you cross. Then you continue to blast the insects in the new area. New elements in this remake include powerups that give your craft a shield or triple shot firepower. You'll also have to collect Wee Folk before they get nailed by the hordes of centipedes, fleas, and spiders.

Graphics The problem isn't the design ¿ in fact, the game is easy to pick up and quite a kick to play. No, the real element that makes Centipede a disappointment is the actual framerate of the 3D engine. As fast as the action gets, the animation just can't keep up. This is obviously a development problem and not a system capability issue, since there's nothing that Centipede is doing to bog the PlayStation down. You can easily compensate for the dropped frames of animation, but in all honesty, it's really hard to overlook how ugly the game is. Textures are low resolution and tear badly when you look at them up close, and the action jumps around with little detail to the animation. This is not a game to show off the PlayStation capabilities, that's for sure.

Sound The game is cute, so expect cute sound effects ¿ the Wee Folk call out for help in a high-pitched Munchin voice. Aww, how adorable. The classic sound effects from the original are in there, but they're bumped up in quality (hey, we've got a better sound chip, might as well use it). And techno music ¿ every video game needs techno music, right?)

The Verdict

I'm all for Hasbro remaking classic arcade games. It's not sacrilege to take an idea done in videogaming's golden age and up it to today's expectations ¿ in fact, it makes fans of the originals appreciate what we had way back when. But, you have to do it right. Centipede is no "Frogger," thank god, but it's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. And it's not a design problem, either ¿ the PC version run off a 3D accelerator is quite a fun game to watch and play. I'm glad Hasbro delayed this game to make it better, but it really doesn't look like the company salvaged much from the project.

Oh, and one huge complaint: We appreciate Hasbro putting the classic game in there, but it's not done very well at all. I've played a better, smoother game of Centipede on my Atari 7800. A word of advice, Hasbro: don't let this developer touch another one of your classic remakes for the PlayStation. Please.